Sustainable Solutions
14 May 2019
The Sustainable Development Goals – adopted in the Summit of Prime Ministers and Heads of State between 25 and 27 September 2015 – are based on the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At the 2000 Millennium Summit, the Millennium Development Goals – adopted by the international community serving as a global guideline for development policy – were replaced or extended by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sustainable Development Goals create a new framework comprising universal goals, targets and indicators. The UN Member States should take into account this framework (Post-2015 Agenda) when setting out their development policies for the following 15 years.
There is general consensus that the MDGs proved to be very narrow in the face of complex challenges emerging in the world today. It is well-demonstrated by the fact that more than 600 million people world-wide are unable to access good quality drinking water, while almost 1 billion people are forced to live on USD 1.25 per day.
The package of proposals for sustainable development comprises 17 goals and 169 targets.
6.1 by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all;
6.2 by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations;
6.3 by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and increasing recycling and safe reuse by x% globally;
6.4 by 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity, and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity;
6.5 by 2030 implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate;
6.6 by 2020 protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes;
6.a by 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water and sanitation related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies;
6.b support and strengthen the participation of local communities for improving water and sanitation management.
In contrast with MDGs, the United Nations had launched the greatest consultation programme of its history for specifying the substance of SDGs.
The Rio+20 Conference held in July 2012 initiated an intergovernmental process to elaborate the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Open Working Group set up for this purpose, with a Hungarian co-chair and involving representatives from 70 UN Member States started to work out the Sustainable Development Goals early 2013. The Open Working Group put forward its summary report with the new 17 Sustainable Development Goals to the UN General Assembly in September 2014.
In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, an agreement was reached at expert level in August 2015. On the first day of the Sustainable Development Summit held between 25 and 27 September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted its resolution “A/RES 70/1 – Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".
The new goals came into effect from 1 January 2016 and shall expire in 2030.
A group of experts has been working on the development of indicators. For each targets to be monitored, two indicators are available and assessed in terms of feasibility, suitability and relevance.
The implementation of Clean Water and Sanitation – Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) is expected to contribute to the implementation of other Development Goals beyond the issue of water. Inter alia, it will contribute to poverty reduction, food security and healthy life, giving a better access to energy for all and providing for the countries to be able to manage climate change and the impact thereof.
The design and implementation of complex water engineering solutions for developing countries has always been and still is a distinguished area of Hungary’s international cooperation. Hungarian experts have several success stories from over the years in providing solutions in – amongst others – water management, well drilling and in irrigation.
S-Metalltech 98 Ltd founded in 1998 works on one hand as a R&D workshop for universities and industrial companies and on the other hand as a manufacturing base of special materials applied in the field of environmental protection, electrical industry, automotive industry and nuclear reactor technology – cooperating with many of home and foreign partners.
The Public Relations Directorate of the University of Szeged has announced that a system for forecasting precipitation and flash floods is being implemented in the Hungarian–Serbian border region. The project will provide valuable assistance for preventing damage in the future.
The water crisis – that is the theme of the year’s most important event in Hungarian diplomacy, the Budapest Water Summit to be held on 15-17 October. Water shortages and the severe pollution of water resources are hazards that many hundreds of millions of people face – preventing the catastrophe is everyone’s shared task and responsibility.
It is a necessity to pay more attention to the ever increasing pollution of the waters. Conventional waste water treatments are not suitable to remove all the incoming pollutants in the treatment plants. That is the reason why Nyírségvíz Zrt. has started a development program.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have produced a water management manual based on the principles of green infrastructure. The purpose of the publication is to popularise the solutions, and to present efficient and sustainable projects already in operation that use green or hybrid (traditional – gray and natural – green) infrastructural solutions in the field of water management.
There is no life without water – this is an unquestionable truth for everybody, but has anyone ever thought of the fact that without water there is no development, either? Talking either about the basic fact that water is essential for the development of plants, or the ingenious inventions of later ages, we have to admit that water significantly determines our lives.
The purpose of the document entitled Groundwater Governance – A Global Framework for Action is to make the importance of sustainable groundwater governance clear to political decision-makers.
At the global level, three of every four jobs are related to water in some way. The 2016 World Water Development Report examines the links between water and jobs, employment and economic development. The key findings of the report are summarised below.
